That physical you keep telling yourself you're going to get? Hasn't happened yet, has it? Despite the new year's resolutions we make to be healthier, and hopefully happier, we can't seem to make it to the doctor. Considering physicals these days are relatively quick and painless compared to the trips to the doctor we made as children wherein all we looked forward to was the possibility of a lollipop, it would seem like a no brainer to just make the appointment and go.

The primary excuse I hear (and give myself) for not going is that most of the time they turn up nothing, which stirs up the complaint that they're a waste of time. While that is one perspective, I'd rather be told that absolutely nothing was wrong than receive bad news. If anything, a physical resulting in a clean bill of health should be a reward for hard work of eating healthfully, exercising and striving for well being.

Yes, there are those times when a physical turns up something less than savory that can lead to other tests and possibly procedures. Wouldn't logic dictate that surfacing the issue allows as much time as possible to remedy the situation? Getting a physical every year at the same time can greatly reduce the possibility of something amiss going unchecked and untreated.

One of the best pieces of advise I received when I was trying to get pregnant was to get an annual physical. The reason for doing so was simple: rule out the possibility of anything other than bad timing for why you're not readily able to get pregnant. The healthier a person is, generally the more fertile she is. Physicals can bring to light little things such as not getting enough iron or having a high triglyceride count which can affect fertility.

Being a runner and basically overly-zealous vegetarian I didn't think I needed to get an annual, but my insurance covered it so I thought I might as well go--you know, just in case. And guess what? I have a heart murmur. Having a murmur didn't necessarily preclude me from getting pregnant, but it did mean I'd need to take antibiotics during delivery, something my OBGYN would want to know about, don't you think?

Well, it gets even better. The physical not only pointed out I had a heart murmur, it reminded me that I'd forgotten I had one. Yep, you read that right: I forgot. How I could forget something like that is beyond me, but it happened. A whole year had passed since I'd been informed of the murmur and I hadn't done anything about it.

Luckily I got the physical, informed my primary care physician that I was trying to get pregnant, and he put two and two together for me regarding the antibiotics.

Long story short, trust me--you have the time and the patience to get an annual physical. Most insurance companies cover most of not all the costs of physicals as part of preventative care. If you don't have insurance many clinics offer free or discounted physicals. The possibility does exist that the results of a physical, free or not, could lead to further testing, which may or may not be considered usual and customary by your insurance company, so find out exactly what you're being tested for and what the policy is should the results of your physical warrant further investigation.

Sure, there's no lollipop at the end for sitting still through the process but I can assure you the piece of mind from a clean bill of health--or by creating a game plan to deal with challenges that may surface--will be just as sweet.